Storing energy in plastics: a review on conducting polymers & their role in electrochemical energy storage

Abstract

Conducting polymers have become the focus of research due to their interesting properties, such as a wide range of conductivity, facile production, mechanical stability, light weight and low cost and the ease with which conducting polymers can be nanostructured to meet the specific application. They have become valuable materials for many applications, such as energy storage and generation. Recently, conducting polymers have been studied for use in supercapacitors, batteries and fuel cells. This article is to briefly discuss the background & theory behind their conductivity as well as to highlight the recent contributions of conducting polymers to the field of energy. Furthermore, the methods of production of the conducting polymers in addition to the different ways utilised to nano-engineer special morphologies are discussed.